As many of you have probably noticed, I like coins with small differences. One person I know refers to this as "flyspecking" I like researching and speculating as to the reasons for those small changes. As we all know sometimes a small difference can make a large difference when it comes to rarity and desirability. There are those of us who are attracted to these variations. For some it might be a mint mark, a designation of officina, a legend variation, or the placement of a device such as a star or crescent. Whatever the interest I continue to find these variations intriguing. Below is an example of a coin of Domitian where a small difference has for me made the coins desirable.
I bought this coin from Victor Clark late last night. He has graciously granted me permission to use his photo here. I have been interested in when the titles for Domitian changed in his early months of rule. . There is only one group 1 issue that uses PP in the legend and this is only known for one example noted in RIC II part 1. That coin is RIC 6. PP is used for all group 2 denarii, but group 2 coins are notoriously rare. The change to PP was not the only reason I wanted a coin with this title. Group 1 denarii with one exception (RIC 6) use COS VII. I wanted a coin with COS VII DES VIII. Group 2 denarii have PP COS VII DES VIII, but they are very rare However, group 3 denarii are more accessible. The legend is different however. Rather than having the PP title at the beginning of the legend the PP title is at the end. The legend on group 3 denarii reads: COS VII DES VIII PP. The coin I bought from Victor is a group 3 denarius with this legend.
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Domitian
A.D. 81
AR Denarius
18x19mm 3.2gm
IMP CAES DOMITIANVS AVG P M; laureate head right.
COS VII DES VIII P P; Seat, draped; above, semicircular triangular frame decorated with three crescents.
RIC II Rome 32
Posted 01/20/2019 7:03 pm
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